The Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets performed a attainable 2024 NBA Finals preview on Friday night time in Boston. The Celtics have been placing their undefeated house document on the road at 20-0. The defending champion Nuggets have been out to show they’re nonetheless the staff to beat within the NBA regardless of not having one of many 5 greatest data within the league. The sport was implausible from the opening tip, and crunch time featured a sequence hardly ever seen earlier than.
The Nuggets beat the Celtics, 102-100, to offer Boston its first house lack of the season. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray have been unbelievable for the defending champs, combining for 69 factors on 29-for-43 taking pictures from the ground, but it was a high-IQ play from Jokic that followers are nonetheless speaking in regards to the day after the sport.
Denver’s Aaron Gordon was trying the second of two free throws with Denver up two factors with 17 seconds left. As Gordon was going by means of his taking pictures movement, Jokic appeared to bait each Celtics gamers on the block into moving into the paint earlier than Gordon launched the ball. That is simply one other instance of Jokic’s traditionally spectacular basketball-IQ. Watch the play right here:
Right here’s one other angle. Jokic’s response is priceless.
The refs didn’t rule this a lane violation by some means. As an alternative, a soar ball was known as as a result of they stated Jokic’s toe crossed the road, too.
The lane violation rule states that if the opponent commits a lane violation on a free throw try, the shot counts if the participant makes it, however they get a re-do in the event that they miss. If each a teammate and opponent cross the road on the similar time, the shot doesn’t depend and a soar ball is named. That’s what the refs dominated.
Kristaps Porzginis beat Jokic within the ensuing soar ball, and the Celtics gained possession. Sadly for Boston, Jayson Tatum missed a fadeaway on the buzzer, and the Nuggets earned the win.
Nikola Jokic is simply probably the most sensible basketball participant alive hahahaha. He simply deked a pair of Celtics right into a lane violation on a Nuggets missed free throw in crunch time, although officers known as a soar ball in seeing him at fault too. (I believe he was positive.)
— Cody Westerlund (@CodyWesterlund) January 20, 2024
I’m not going to lie — doing a pump pretend on the lane violation is a genius degree transfer from Nikola Jokic and I don’t suppose I’ve ever seen somebody efficiently pull that off
— Esfandiar Baraheni (@JustEsBaraheni) January 20, 2024
Yeah, that was an OD lane violation. Jokic baited Brown and Porzingis fantastically
— Kazeem Famuyide (@Kazeem) January 20, 2024
Jokic head faking two opponents into (what ought to have been) a lane violation is so amazingly Jokic
— Ben Dowsett (@Ben_Dowsett) January 20, 2024
That was an extremely apparent lane violation on the Celtics. What are we doing right here? lol
— Kevin (Solely Jokic can save us now) (@_Kevlar23_) January 20, 2024
The Denver media has seen this earlier than:
Nikola Jokic does that on a regular basis — he baits the opponent right into a lane violation. The refs at all times miss it.
— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) January 20, 2024
By the way in which, Jokic handed Michael Jordan for the very best profession PER in NBA historical past with the win over Boston. Not dangerous!
Jokic could not have been rewarded for his high-IQ deke, however he’ll be a lot happier with the win. If we’re fortunate, we’ll see a Nuggets-Celtics sequence come June.